My Dad is the Coach!

I have some pictures that I never posted that I think are really cute.  It sort of shows how blessed I feel to have kids love their daddy so much. 

These pictures were taken during the football season.  If Joe's team wins their game, I make cookies.  Players receive a certain amount of cookies depending on how well they performed.  I wait for the list of names and the number of cookies they get.  I bake the chocolate chip cookies (every one's favorite), bag them, label them and deliver them.  I've been doing this for years and it seems to be something everyone looks forward to.  I'm glad to do it especially if it motivates some players to win just a little bit more.

As the years have gone by, my kids seem to get excited to deliver the cookies while Coach is working.  Coach gets them involved and it's just fun for everyone!

This was a particularly beautiful sunny day on the turf field!  The sun was setting with that gorgeous golden light that I love.  The weather was perfect!  We arrived towards the end of the practice on the field with the cookies.

The football team push sleds on Mondays following a game.  I think for every mistake or bad play of sorts they get disciplined in the form of pushing these metal heavy sleds.  When the kids come, Coach lets the kids sit on them and they get a ride.  You'll see what I mean.

We arrived a little early and my kids are hanging out waiting for Coach to call them to the field.

It's such a large turf field, you can't help but run around a bit.

We found these pom poms on the field.  Anne is practicing her cheering.

You're bound to be kissed by Mommy if you stand around me too long.

Coach calls the kids and they come running on the field.  They take a seat on those metal sleds and wait for one of the huge football players to come and push them as fast as they can to the other side of the field at the sound of the whistle.

Ready, get set, go!  They go back and forth a few times.  I'm on the sidelines watching the excitement and fun in my kids' faces!  The football players seem to also enjoy the slight change of pace.  They are teenagers - they are big boys, but as I listen to them talk to my kids, they are really sweet to them.

Then it's time to go inside and break down film.  Look how tiny they are?

But before they breakdown the film, the kids get to pass out the cookies to the players.  They have so much fun doing this too.

I love the fact that Coach can mix family and work together.  I love that my kids are proud of their father.  I think it's also nice for the football players to get a picture of a father (their coach) with his family behind him.  It's a rare thing nowadays to see a family intact and I feel so blessed to have that and to give it to my kids.  It is really a wonderful gift.

Even though Bernadette was a little too young to ride the sleds, she still had the best seat in the house!

Late Holiday Post

It's been a long time!  I've been pretty busy with little Maximilian and just the going on's of my family.  My camera is collecting dust. 

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years just went by and I don't have any pictures to show for it.  That's pretty bad.  In my defense, I had a newborn baby and five other kids to tend to.  I wish I could take pictures with my eyes because I have all the great memories in my head - for now.

I do have some pictures, but they were all taken before Christmas and right after Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving was great.  We spent it with family in PA.  I was 37 weeks pregnant and was hoping not to go into labor. 

At the Farm

My parents were also in town for the birth for whenever Max decided to arrive.  So right after Thanksgiving at the Farm (in PA) we drove to my parents house in Ft. Valley, VA.  We arrived too late to enjoy the bonfire my dad had prepared so we just did it the next early afternoon.

We had marshmallows and hot dogs, yum.  It's not the same as at night, but the kids didn't care.

My mom made her first long drive from FL to VA in the passenger seat of their car opposed to in the wheelchair accessible car!  Way to go Mom! 

My mom is doing really well.  She is currently still working on physical therapy so she can walk again. 

We also did some shooting.

This is not a real rifle, it's a bee bee gun.  It still has quite a kick, though.

Anne was a natural - watch out boys.

Tommy liked to use the binoculars to see how close we could get to the bull's eye.  The person shooting is a friend of the family.

We headed back home.  That week after Thanksgiving, November 29th our little Max was born!  He came a little earlier than expected but I wasn't complaining!

Christmas time was coming and while I was resting and healing and getting to know my little Max, I was shopping online for Christmas gifts.

We were deciding between a real Christmas tree or a fake one this year.  We took our trip to Home Depot to see what the fake trees had to offer and if we didn't like them, we'd go real.

Hmmm, get a fake tree or go for a real one?

We went for the fake one!

And all were happy and satisfied.  I don't think I will ever go back to real again.  Well, I will miss the smell and the earthiness about it, but the simpleness and aesthetics of a fake tree win for now.

There are so many Christmas activities I wanted to do with the kids, but couldn't get to it all.  I love Christmas cards and I was determined to get those done.  I got all the older kids outside and got their pictures done and then I woke up Bernadette from a nap that was late in the afternoon.  I should have planned better because all she did was cry, cry, cry.  That doesn't make well for Christmas photos.  I finally got a decent one of her.  Her eyes were a bit red, but I didn't care at that point!

I also wanted to try taking a photo of Max like the professionals do when they stick a baby in a cute basket naked with some sort of cute knitted blanket of sorts strategically placed on them.  Yikes, well it didn't work out too well - I'm NOT a professional.  You should have seen me trying to get poor Max to work with me.

Yah, he wasn't too happy.  "What are you trying to do, Mommy?"

Out of many, this one turned out decent.  I actually loved my Christmas card this year.  Wish I could post it on here, but don't know how.  I'm biased because they're my kids on there.

Overall, I had a blessed Christmas!  We celebrated with our newest addition to the family, we spent Christmas day with my in-laws, took another trip to the Farm where it snowed a lot and went sledding, had Max baptized with family and friends at our house, spent New Years with just the eight of us at home trying to stay awake till midnight.  We started the new year and ended vacation with a great visit from my sister and my nephew.

Now I'm in front of my computer with Max resting in my arms, boxes in the living room waiting to be packed with Christmas decorations.  Hope you all had a blessed Christmas, too.